


A question of forgiveness

by Here_to_procrastinate



Category: Naruto
Genre: Child Neglect, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, SO, Sad, he loves naruto a lot, naruto is like the most selfless person in the world, naruto's childhood (briefly), no boruto, no naruhina, no sasusaku, sasuke thinks a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:22:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28690869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Here_to_procrastinate/pseuds/Here_to_procrastinate
Summary: Sasuke is back in Konoha after the war. He doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life but he knows there is only one place for him and that is right beside Naruto.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	A question of forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place like three to four moth after the war. Naruto didn't cut his hair and no relationships with Hinata or Sakura. I don't dislike them I just hate the ships.
> 
> Hope you enjoy ;D
> 
> I already posted this fic on fanfiktion.de like a year ago so if you're german here is the original one: https://www.fanfiktion.de/s/5ec55ce70003ac438bac0ca/1/Unverdient

With lowered head Sasuke strolled through the streets of Konoha. It was a cold spring night. He should have brought a jacket. The boy briefly considered asking one of the Anbus following him to lend him theirs. He smirked at the thought.

Since his hearing two weeks ago, at which he was cleared of nearly all his crimes, he was allowed to live in the old Uchiha district again and go out again but there had to be five Anbus following him at all times. Sasuke thought that it was a far better deal than he deserved. Ok, in the end he had probably mostly killed people with which Konoha was better off gone but he _still_ had been on a hate blinded vendetta for the better part of the last three years. He had _still_ worked together with countless criminals, he had _still_ planned to destroy Konoha – even if just for a short time – and… and he had tried to kill the future Hokage three times.

Sighing quietly Sasuke ran his only hand over his face. Hadn’t he decided to not think about the blonde today? With a grim face he plunked himself onto the next bench. It was a hurriedly built post-war bench made of cheap timber. Nevertheless, there had been the effort made to carve names of Ninjas, who fell in the war, into the wood. Naruto had told him during one of his daily visits that he would – as soon as the bigger part of Konoha was rebuilt – ensure that everyone who deserved it got a memorial. Even the Uchihas. Even Itachi. 

Naruto was the reason for Sasuke’s punishment being ridiculously lenient. Well, he and Kakashi. The village council had been for – at least – a lifelong imprisonment. A few of the eldest even for execution. But as the Sixth Hokage and the hero of the Shinobi World had voted in his favour and Naruto had (naturally) held a speech about friendship, solidarity and the conquer of generations old hate, they had had no choice but to weaken his penalty. So, after a long period of back and forth he had been sentenced to probation on the condition that he had to be under observation all the time. Sasuke thought it was ridiculous. He could kill all five Anbus following him in under a minute without breaking a sweat. If he wanted to. 

But he didn’t feel the slightest desire to do so. Sure, he would have liked a little bit more privacy, but he didn’t want to kill anybody anymore. The time was over in which he had wanted to see Konoha burn. Or – he nearly laughed at the thought – in which he had wanted to become Hokage. 

He didn’t know what he wanted anymore – if he had ever actually known. At the moment he spent most of his time at his old home only leaving the house at night when everyone else was sleeping. The villagers avoided him like the plague. He couldn’t really blame them and wasn’t sad about it anyway. He hadn’t forgiven Konoha for what they had done to his clan. What they had done to his brother. What they had done to him. What they had done to Naruto. 

Naruto was the only one visiting him. Kakashi and Sakura had tried to talk to him in the beginning, but they had quickly resigned as they realised that they wouldn’t get any coherent answers. They didn’t seem to be able to really forgive him. But that was okay. He couldn’t really forgive himself either. 

The only one for whom it seemed to have never been a question if he could forgive Sasuke or not, was the one whose forgiveness he deserved least of all. Naruto. Every day he took time to come by the Uchiha district with something to eat – sometimes even home cooked.  
Despite having more then enough to do. The blonde was involved in reconstructing Konoha, building an orphanage, looking over and improving the old peace contracts between the Shinobi villages and so much more. 

__Naruto told Sasuke about it whenever he visited, always energetic and animated no matter how uncommunicative the other one was. Sometimes he nearly made the Uchiha smile. The black-haired teenager had no idea why the other boy was still so kind to him after everything that happened between them._ _

__~_ _

__The one time the blonde had been able to persuade him to leave the house together at broad daylight, Sasuke realised how different the villagers acted around him as soon as he was with Naruto. Sure, the looks that fell on Sasuke were still hateful and fearful, but most eyes were fixed on Naruto. Admiring, tender and sometimes nearly awe-inspiring looks followed the blonde through the streets of Konoha. Everyone greeted him, mothers stopped to thank him for saving their sons in the war, girls fawned all over him – not that Naruto noticed – and children told him that they wanted to be a hero like him some day.  
All the attention didn’t really seem to bother the Jinchuriki, but he seemed to feel a little bit awkward about it as he turned red and scratched the back of his head all the time._ _

__One evening as Naruto had brought some rice balls for Sasuke the blonde had been weirdly quiet and thoughtful.  
At the Uchiha’s question what was going on Naruto had answered that he sometimes wondered if he really deserved all this gratitude as there had been so many that he hadn’t been able to save._ _

__That had been one of the first moments in his life in which Sasuke had wished to be good with words. To express that nobody could have possibly done more than Naruto and that nobody could have asked for more. That he was the only one the Uchiha still gave a shit about._ _

__Instead Sasuke had hit the future Hokage over the head and told him to “Never say something that dumb again”. The blinding smile that the Jinchuriki had given him in return had felt – like everything else – undeserved._ _

__~_ _

__Another afternoon they had decluttered the Uchiha district together as Sasuke suddenly stilled to look at the other one appraisingly. The other one, that had been ready to throw everything away for him and was the only one still living who was able to make the Uchiha feel something.  
Smirking sightly Naruto looked at his friend._ _

__“What’s the matter?”_ _

__“Why?”_ _

__“Because you've been staring at me for the last five minutes?”_ _

__“No. I mean: Why?”_ _

__“Oh. Yeah. That makes way more sense.”_ _

__Sasuke shook his head harshly._ _

__“Why did you do all this? How could you forgive Konoha so easily even though everyone hated and despised you for most of your childhood? How could you forgive me? Why did you do it? Neither the village nor me has ever done something to deserve to be saved by you.”_ _

__Naruto stared at the other boy with big eyes and then started laughing wholeheartedly._ _

__“That must have been the most you have ever said to me in one go!”_ _

__Sasuke didn’t look away, he just kept staring at the blonde and lifted one eyebrow. Slowly Naruto stopped laughing and gulped._ _

__“I… I don’t know. It was never a question of forgiveness to me…”_ _

__The Uchiha frowned. Cautiously Naruto looked up to his self-declared best friend and settled himself onto the ground between the debris of the Uchiha district. He motioned Sasuke to sit down next to him._ _

__Shortly the black haired boy considered to decline on principle to sit down on the dirty ground but in the end he yielded._ _

__“You want to know why I never thought about taking revenge on Konoha?”_ _

__“Hn.”_ _

__“As a child I thought I deserved it. The hate and everything. I never considered that the others could be in the wrong because everyone seemed to have the same opinion. I – I thought about ending it all a few times as no one seemed to care if I lived or not.”_ _

__Sasuke inhaled sharply._ _

__“And then I got to know Iruka and team seven and I… I was just so immensely grateful that there were finally people that noticed me. Finally, I wasn’t alone anymore. And that’s what I felt about every new person that excepted me. I never felt as if there were anything to forgive, so there wasn't the question if I were able to forgive… After all they were only scared, right? How could I be angry about that?”_ _

__The blonde tilted his head and smiled faintly at the Uchiha. The other one felt as if someone had beaten the air he needed to live out of him with full force. On the outside he looked as emotionless as always._ _

__“You know that you are allowed to be angry at people on your own behalf, right? Not only at people who hurt your friends but also at people who hurt you. You have all the right in the world to hate everyone that lives in Konoha. To hate me.”_ _

__Naruto shrugged._ _

__"Possible. But I just. Don’t. And I could never hate you.”_ _

__Then the blond grinned, folded his arms behind his head and jumped up to start working on the ruins of the Uchiha district again. The topic seemed to be finished for him._ _

__On that day Sasuke decided that he would need even longer to forgive Konoha._ _

__~_ _

__Not thinking about Naruto was working splendid again, Sasuke thought and nearly rolled his eyes at himself._ _

__He knew why his every thought was about the Uzumaki. To some account it was because thinking about anything else was even more painful but also because he… loved Naruto._ _

__He had nearly laughed out loud when he - while shopping for groceries - realised why the bond with the blond was the only one, he had never been able to cut. His eyes had fallen on the shrink-wrapped fish cake in the makeshift shop that was built post-war and he had just… known. Suddenly it all seemed to make sense._ _

__Why he had never been able to kill the blonde, why the other one had been the only thing that had held him back from going as crazy as Madara, why he avoided every human contact but still longed for Naruto’s visit every day. Love._ _

__The realisation had given Sasuke hope. Even though he didn’t deserve the Jinchuriki and they would probably never be more than friends the feeling meant that the Uchiha was still able to feel real affection for another human being. Not only endless thankfulness – as he had thought before – but readiness to self-sacrifice. He would – at least from now on – try to do everything for Naruto, as the other had done for him before. And he would be happy with everything the boy was ready to give. Even if they would always only be friends. After all, even that was more than Sasuke deserved._ _

__But still… still there were selfish moments in which Sasuke had the feeling – or maybe the hope – that there was a chance that Naruto felt the same…_ _

__The Uchiha would never try to initiate anything. Not only because he firmly believed that Naruto deserved better but also because he feared that the other one was still ready to give him everything he asked for even if he didn’t want the same._ _

__Sasuke’s look drifted into the distance where he could see the first evidence of dawn. He got up from the bench he was still sitting on. Soon the active day-to-day life of Konoha would start again so it was time to go home._ _

__As he walked through the partly reconstructed buildings of Konoha he was sure that no matter how the future looked it would be better than the past. After all he would be by Naruto’s side for every step of the way._ _

__…and for some more time the Anbus following him would be on his side for every step that he took, Sasuke thought annoyed as one of his followers coughed behind him._ _

**Author's Note:**

> I know Naruto is a little bit glorified but it is how Sasuke sees him and honestly: he doesn't have a lot of bad sides in the Anime either :'D -> so hope you liked it!  
> Coming out of my one piece rewatch phase and I get instantly sucked into the naruto loop again. I swear I never watch new shows just the same five again and again :'D.  
> I would be super happy if you leave a kudo or even a comment! <3
> 
> Also: If you like one piece read my Lawlu fanfictions ;D.


End file.
